While dynamic pricing typically yields low-value award redemptions cough, Delta SkyMiles, cough, the airline loyalty program began pricing economy saver award flights starting at 6,000 points.
GABRIELLE BERNARDINI/THE POINTS GUY
With a stroke of luck, Chase Ultimate Rewards was also offering a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. You may unsubscribe at any time.
I redeemed 30,000 Flying Club points and paid about $73 per person in taxes and fees for our nonstop economy flights from MCO to LHR.
Now, when I booked this great flight deal, my baby had not yet been born. Since TPG values Chase points at 2.05 cents apiece and Flying Club points at 1.3 cents per point per our August 2025 valuations, this was a great redemption.
Not only was I maximizing my points, but setting up a positioning flight to London before flying to Italy helped us save our rewards.
Now, onward to Italy.
Related: Current credit card transfer bonuses
Part 2: Flying from London to Venice, Italy, using British Airways Club Avios
The first leg of our Italian vacation would begin in the northern part of Italy, where my dads family descended from. So, with my mom constantly telling me that she “can believe shes here, in Italy,” it was yet another reminder that the points savings and redemptions were all worth it.
GABRIELLE BERNARDINI/THE POINTS GUY
Since we started in the northern part of Italy, we planned to fly into Venice Marco Polo Airport VCE from LHR and then rent a car to drive to the Dolomite region. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
But, since I also have Chase Ultimate Rewards points and American Express Membership Rewards points, I cross-referenced to see if this specific American Airlines flight was available to book on partner airlines at a better price, such as British Airways Club, Iberia Club and other Oneworld airlines.
TPG tip: Use a search tool such as Seats.aero to find airline award availability across different loyalty programs.
Since this flight was not even available on partner airlines, I was at the mercy of American Airlines dynamic pricing. Since TPG values AAdvantage miles at 1.55 cents apiece, per our August 2025 valuations, this was still a good redemption rate.
